<div align="center"> @ Houston Rockets: 46-31 Seattle Supersonics: 50-26 Coach (Nate Mcmillan) C – Jerome James PF – Reggie Evans SF – Damien Wilkins SG – Ray Allen PG – Luke Ridnour Coach (Jeff Van Gundy) C - Yao Ming PF – Clarence Weatherspoon SF – Tracy Mcgrady SG - David Wesley PG - Bob Sura We’re currently on a two game winning streak, the first win in our streak was against the Los Angeles Lakers and the second was a thriller against the Phoenix Suns. In the game against Phoenix it looked like Wesley and Barry were slowly getting out of their shooting slump, Yao wasn’t too effective but Mutombo was superb. Tracy Mcgrady played very well nailing many important shots to keep us in the game in the third quarter. The Seattle Supersonics have been plagued with injury, Rashard Lewis, Vladimir Radmanovic and Antonio Daniels are all out for the game but Seattle are quite a deep team, and Damien Wilkins has shown some great potential for them. The last time we played Seattle, we won 97-95, T-Mac scored 35 that game and Yao chipped in with 22. To win this game T-Mac and Yao will have to play as hard as they always play and not take it easy since this team is lacking some of their best players, as we lose a lot of games when that happens (Hornets, Bobcats etc...) I do expect Yao to play well as Seattle don’t really have anybody to guard him, and if for some reason Yao can’t get it done then I have no problem with JVG putting in Deke for the majority of the minutes, he has really impressed me the last few games. I hope this will be a good game for us, we’re building confidence game by game, and we really need to do that heading into the playoffs (which we’ve clinched a spot for...yay!) if we win this game then we’ll build a tad bit more confidence for the game against Memphis and whenever we have a lot of confidence we always come up with huge win streaks! However if we end up losing this game our confidence level will drop like a Ray Allen threeball (which is something else we have to watch out for haha ) Prediction: I don't do em... Side note: This is my last game preview for the regular season; I just wanted to say that I am really grateful that you guys allowed me on the preview team after I was only a member of this the forum for a short time. It’s been great spending this season with you guys, there were many ups and downs this season, but I’d always enjoy coming here to express my anger or excitement! Like I said it’s been awesome with you guys, I want to especially thank Trip for helping me out when I first got here, giving me a chance on the preview team and I’m not sure if this is true or not but he convinced me (through Brandon) to stay on Justbball instead of...the other forum, I hope I can get to know you all even better as time goes by, I’ll see you in the playoffs </div>
I think the Rockets should be able to win this since Seattle doesn't seem to be playing very well of late. Particularly if Rashard is still out. I think the Rockets will be focused and playing with somewhat of a scowl on their face, if their post-game quotes after Phoenix are any indication. We need to beware of Radmonovic, particularly when he's matched up against Yao. The Rockets major defensive weakness, in my view, is rotating to the bigs who can shoot from the outside.
Nice preview Dan Le. It's funny that Damien Wilkins pics looks formal anyway you did a good job on that. I hope you'll continue to stay in the Rockets' justbball forum as this so far is the best forum that I've been thru. The Rockets should win this one if they want to stay ahead of the Nuggets surge. They should not be overconfident on this game despite the Sonics lack of quality players. Just look at what happen to the Twolves last saturday. I would like to see the Rockets playing it down to the wire especially if they'll gonna built a large lead again. I hope they won't choke on the last minute this time. They should not depend on luck all the time instead they should win the game with their might and will.
That Damien Wilkins pic looks like a prom one, or one you would put in your resume, but not on a player bio. I guess they don't have one with him since he's not a big name player. Recently though, Wilkins has been killing the comp and been a pleasant surprise for the Sonics at that small forward position with Lewis out. T-Mac, if he's on him, should not let up on defense. Dan Le, nice preview, I'm liking the new graphics. Thanks for your commitment to the writing team, and I'm sorry that you were allotted the least previews, as I've said before. That will definitely be changed for the next season. It's been a pleasure having you guys write these previews with me; last season it was just me alone and the previews hardly got 8 replies. Thanks to all of you guys, posters and preview-makers alike, I have a much less burden and much more reason and enjoyment in doing these previews, as I know that someone will read them, unlike last season. Thanks to everyone for keeping up this activity and quality in the forum. I won't trade you guys for any forum. Now to get away from that lovey-dovey stuff, I think this game is a must win. Denver could very well win out the whole season and this game would be important if we want to keep that edge on them right now, and then get ready for Memphis and Denver. Seattle though is also desperate to get a win to clinch their division and grab third in the West. We would have to play through Yao Ming and hope that he can get his game on tonight and dominate against Jerome James and whoever guards him. Wesley looked like his shot came back in the second half against Phoenix, so let's hope he keeps it up. I'm looking forward to the game!
first, tnx for dan le and trip and other fellow houston fans who make this forum alive and well and for the match, i had a feeling that we can pull a win out of this one. Not underestimating seattle, but lately they had been through a struggle and also they dont have answer for Yao. So if Yao and (hopefully) Wesley get a good start then maybe we can have a comfortable lead down the stretch. And as always T-mac should come up big. Btw, i also think denver will have a tough game today against GSW, it will be a very close game. If only GSW don't play back to back game (especially since it goes to double OT yesterday against spurs) i would say GSW can get a win.. but still it will be a very close game.
I'm pretty sure it will boil down to 2 factors: -Yao's ability to stay in the game (and stay out of foul trouble) and -The ability of the guards to knock down open shots Those 2 things happen, the Rockets should win.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting johnny33:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm pretty sure it will boil down to 2 factors: -Yao's ability to stay in the game (and stay out of foul trouble) and -The ability of the guards to knock down open shots Those 2 things happen, the Rockets should win.</div> That pretty much has been the Rockets whole season. If those 2 things dont happen the Rockets then have to rely on defense to win games. Im really hoping that the Rockets can get some consistancy going before they go into the playoffs.
The Rockets need to make a statement tonight against Seattle, letting them know what they can expect to see in the first round of the playoffs. Another win in the Sonics' house would be a great confidence booster for the Rockets and would put some doubt in the Sonics' heads. That can make all the difference during the trying moments of the playoffs. Win or lose, I will not be satisfied with anything less than their best EFFORT tonight. These last 2 games against Seattle and the Denver game will define this team.
I predict a win tonight against a team that is slumping without their 2nd best player. I would also like to add that I have great respect for Ryan Bowen...he brings everything he has to every game, and his hustle is contagious. He might not be naturally talented like TMac, but he works his butt off every night, and is an awesome defender. Look for him to make some good stops tonight. Peace
Welcome to the Rockets forum indianbrain1988! You'll find this to be one of the premiere team forums at JBB so I hope you'll stay and make some quality posts here. Anyways, this should be a tight game for Houston. We've got Denver at our heels and with a win here, it should definitely give us some confidence to build up a winning streak. However, everyone has to show up. That means guys have to find their shot and groove in this game to knock down open jumpers to try and keep up with Seattle. People like Wesley, James, and Barry are the main ones that this applies to. However, although we should play good offense, we should play tougher defense. Basically not let them take open shots and disrupt their ball movement. By doing so, it should throw Seattle's shooting off track and hopefully give us an advantage for a win. In addition to that, I really hope Yao shows up mentally for the game tonight. This is a pretty important game and he hasn't exactly played that well the past few games. McGrady definitely has, but he hasn't. Prediction- Houston win, 101-98.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting indianbrain1988:</div><div class="quote_post">I predict a win tonight against a team that is slumping without their 2nd best player. I would also like to add that I have great respect for Ryan Bowen...he brings everything he has to every game, and his hustle is contagious. He might not be naturally talented like TMac, but he works his butt off every night, and is an awesome defender. Look for him to make some good stops tonight. Peace</div> Warm welcomes. I share your view regarding Bowen, but I don't ever see him as a starter in this league. He is basically in the classical white guy class of NBA players (no disrepect to anyone), in that he doesn't have any physical talents but depends purely on hustle and one other specialty in the NBA. We have Padgett with his threes and hustle, Bowen with his defense and hustle, Brian Cardinal with his threes and hustle, and the list just goes on and on. It's always good to have one or two of these guys on your team because they are guaranteed to give their all.
In fact, Bowen may have been the difference in tonight's game. When that lead was hovering around 6 or so, he turned into an offensive rebounding machine and gave us a few second opportunities and was singlehandedly responsible for running over a minute off the clock. Who knows what happens if Seattle comes away with those rebounds in a 6 point game.
Welcome to the forum indianbrain1988! Well you're surely on the spot on Bowen's capabilities. I just hope he would add some offensive and rebounding skills aside from his hustle and defense. Tonight he played well even without scoring. He grab 4 boards with 3 on the offensive glass. Those 3 offensive rebounds did help us a lot on stopping the Sonics' momentum. The referees must be absent-minded again when they gave TMac 2 FTs then after TMac made the FTs for his 40th points they cancelled it out because they realized that the Sonics are not yet in the penalty. Nice win by the Rockets at least we're still ahead of the Nuggets by a half game. Tmac and Yao have good scoring and rebounding game. Ray Allen must have been frustrated tonight. He missed a lot of shots especially from beyond the arc.
If Tracy McGrady can keep up this form the rest of the way home, there would be no way we'll lose our hold on the sixth spot and might even make us the favorites in the series against Seattle. He and Yao Ming were our pillars tonight. We saw a great game from the Great Wall of China as well, 20 and 13 with 3 blocks and just one turnover. If the duo plays like this every game, we'll be a force in the playoffs. All Ryan Bowen did was get 4 rebounds, but his offensive rebounds definitely went great lengths in helping us win this game. I thought that Seattle competed really hard for a team missing four key guys, but we definitely showed that we would not be walkovers in a potential playoff matchup.
Great game for Houston. They played hard in this game and when Seattle was going into a comeback, Houston just battled tougher and stayed in the game. They didn't let up or collapse in the third or fourth quarter and that definitely helped the win. However, we also must realize that this Seattle team was completely depleted. For one, the Sonics didn't have Lewis, Fortson, or Radmonavic. Not to mention Ray Allen was in a huge slump for last night. However, I guess part of that has to go to good defense, which they probably played since I didn't watch the game. In addition, having McGrady and Yao hot at the same time is incredible. The flow was in our favor and when given the chance, the role players knocked down shots as well. Hope this builds up some confidence for a win at Memphis.
Did anyone else notice toward the end of the first half when Jerome James commited and offensive foul on Yao and then kinda got in Yao's face? At a time when Yao normally just looks away, he turned toward James with this "who the #$@! you pushin'?!" look on his face and then put a hand in his chest and pushed him away. McGrady was right there and as James walked away Tracy was basically cheering Yao on for showing some fire for once. I thought it was an awesome moment, but they didn't mention it or replay it at all.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Sniper:</div><div class="quote_post">Did anyone else notice toward the end of the first half when Jerome James commited and offensive foul on Yao and then kinda got in Yao's face? At a time when Yao normally just looks away, he turned toward James with this "who the #$@! you pushin'?!" look on his face and then put a hand in his chest and pushed him away. McGrady was right there and as James walked away Tracy was basically cheering Yao on for showing some fire for once. I thought it was an awesome moment, but they didn't mention it or replay it at all.</div> I didn't see the first half of the game but if Yao did that, good for him! It's always good to show opponents at times that you're not one to be pushed around, and they would probably be less inclined to foul you hard or get in your face in the future. It shows that Yao is getting more and more aggressive. One incident that still stands out in my head today is last season when Amare Stoudemire dunked on Yao, screamed in his face and basically taunted him. Yao had no facial expression at all, and it took Steve Francis's elbow to Stoudemire to help rub off some of Amare's cockiness at the time. This season, Yao is getting a more out of my face attitude, and that is very good.
